NutraWomen Wednesday: Katie Banaszewski, Senior Director of Quality, NOW

Katarzyna ‘Katie’ Banaszewski, NOW Senior Director of Quality, has helped transform the analytical capabilities of NOW’s labs into the state-of-the-art facility it is today. from being one of the industry’s best, to being the​ most capable in-house testing lab.

Having grown up in post-communist Poland, Banaszewski said her parents instilled the importance of education at an early age.

Education

“It was one of the most important factors determining one's success–so the bar was really high. I was always very competitive and never settled for less than perfection. I was always on top of my class and worked hard to achieve the goals. I remember studying the books before the [school] year began so I could be ready for when I needed all that information.”

She studied biotechnology and chemistry with areas of testing expertise in mass spec and elemental analysis. Banaszewski explained that she started off in the food industry and testing dietary supplements was not part of her plan. But when she joined NOW, everything just fell into place.

“When I joined NOW, I very quickly integrated myself with the team. It really felt like home. I very quickly gained the understanding of Mr. Richard's vision for the lab. And I really had the opportunity to raise one of the greatest laboratories in the industry,” said Banaszewski. “So with that expertise, I was able to contribute to raising the laboratory expertise to a completely different level.”

Talking nerdy

Despite being one of the most capable in-house testing labs, Banaszewski said there’s always room for more.

“We've been very fortunate to get instrumentation to do the job that we need, but there's always something new and exciting on the market that us as dorky scientists are excited about…I'm sure I can construct a long list of items that we would want to have in the laboratory in addition to what we already have.”